２００５年９月１３日
皆様
アメリカの定評ある週刊誌、The Nationが８月１日号で、「イラクにおける劣化ウラン犠牲者」とのタイトルで論説を掲載しています。（この論説の中で取り上げられているジェラルド・マシューさんが教えてくれました。）
「イラクに派遣された兵士たちの一グループは、陸軍が・・・劣化ウラン被曝に対する防御を提供せず、また、十分な医療も提供しなかったことは陸軍規則に違反しているとの理由で、陸軍を一ヶ月以内のうちに連邦地裁に訴える予定である」とあります。また、ルイジアナ州は、６月、帰還兵に劣化ウラン検査を義務づける初めての州となったことが言及されています。
丁寧に英訳してご紹介する時間的余裕がありませんが、「ネーション」のホームページにアップされている部分をご参考までに下に貼り付けておきます。
マシューさんのケースの詳細に関しては、「アメリカの戦争と日本の有事法制に反対する署名事務局」ホームページ
（http://www.jca.apc.org/~p-news/IRQ/041009iraqdu.htm）を、ご参照ください。
草々 嘉指信雄
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http://www.thenation.com/docprem.mhtml?i=20050801&s=infact
Home Issues August 1, 2005 issue In Fact...
editorial | posted July 14, 2005 (August 1, 2005 issue)
In Fact...
DEPLETED URANIUM TOLL IN IRAQ
John S. Friedman writes: A group of soldiers who served in Iraq plan to
file a lawsuit within a month in Federal District Court against the Army
for violating its regulations by not offering safeguards against exposure
to depleted uranium, used in tank armor and artillery, and for not providing
adequate medical treatment. Although DU has been linked to Gulf War syndrome,
and scientists are concerned about civilian exposure to it during the 1999
war in Kosovo, the Pentagon continues to deny that DU inhalation has harmful
health effects. After being misdiagnosed by the Army, the nine soldier
plaintiffs, from New York National Guard units, who suffer from a variety
of health problems, were tested by a private laboratory, which in most
cases found DU traces in their bodies. A child of Gerard Matthew, conceived
after the father returned from Iraq, was born with a deformed hand and
missing fingers. Matthew, a member of a transport unit from Harlem, blames
his exposure to DU-laden dust. Asked about the soldiers' symptoms, an Army
spokesperson said, "These concerns are not likely attributed to exposure
to depleted uranium." The Army's environmental tests of selected sites
did not detect any DU. Dr. Asaf Durakovic, who supervised the soldiers'
private DU testing and sent his own team to measure sites in Iraq, called
those results "hogwash." In June Louisiana became the first state
to require that vets be tested for DU.